Truer words have never been blogged! First time I went, I was in a 24 footer with an outboard. In 1988 that was already considered too small by all the rags pushing 32 to 40 footers. I have no regrets...had the time of my life and have kept commin' back for more! Thanks Gord!

Great post Gord! My first cruising boat was a 26-foot Westerly Centaur I purchased for about 10K. I was never a full time cruiser, but often lived aboard for two months at at time. That boat saw me through many wonderful adventures on the Great Lakes and Bahamas over the course of about 8 years. Since then I've spent much more on boats, but I'm not sure it's been any more fun.

Looking back, I'm happy I bought what I could afford when I did instead of waiting.

My wife and I deep into the search for our live aboard, we have been looking in the 45ft range. recently we have looked at a few boats in the 38ft range, for all the reasons most of you have posted who favor a smaller vessel. So far what I have run into is the layouts do not afford a berth large enough for the 2 of us to sleep together, may seem like a small thing on the surface but neither of us are willing to live like ricky and Lucy just yet.

my wife and i cruise on our 27 ft catalina. our first extended trip out was a learning experience. the vberth was too small for the both of us to sleep together so i slept in the quarterberth and her in the vberth. after this trip we needed to find a better method for sleeping. we installed a couple of teak rails between the port and starboard settee's bought a couple pieces of high density foam some 1x6 slat board and some upholstery. now we have a dble plus size bed that runs port-starboard very comfortable and quite easy to take apart and stow.
"where theres a will, theres a way"

Dang, I thought we "went small" with our 33-footer. Well, I think it's a good compromise boat, big enough to go out cruising, small enough to fit into an affordable slip, heavy enough (15,100 empty) to be reasonably stable, simple enough that we can fix it up and keep it so.

Truth be told, we were dead set on 40'+ until we walked through the little Soverel and realized, "Yeah....Oh, yeah...This can work." Most of the bigger boats we looked at used the extra space for an extra berth or two, which we don't need. We have a v-berth, we have a galley, we have a salon, we have a head, and we have a surprising amount of storage space. And we bought it and fixed it up for way less than the cost of any of the "big boys" we had been looking at.

As can be deduced from the size of their boats (“Seraffyn” @ 24'7", “Taleisin” @ 29'6"), they don't feel that bigger is necessarily better or more comfortable. "Comfort at sea is only relative. It is a boat you can handle alone in the worst conditions, one you can comfortably maintain in perfect condition with less than a month of maintenance a year, and one you can truly afford," they wrote in Cruising in Seraffyn.

This isn’t a prompt towards foolish impulsiveness. Their encouragement must be understood in context.

The Pardey’s on Storms (& fear):Larry: If you're not afraid, you don't know the facts.Lin: You prepare yourself, you get experience, and then there are fewer times you're afraid. During a storm, there is no time for fear.

On Bigger Boats & SafetyGear:Lin: What is sad is that people aren't taking baby steps first. They're not learning to sail a 14 footer, so they know what sailing's about - or even rowing!Lin: It's easier to buy things, than to learn things. There's a lot of “safety gear” that doesn't work the way the manufacturer tells you it will work, or people don't go out and practice with it to learn if and how it does work.

What I understand them to mean, is to not let the materialistic desire for “just one more” (foot of boat, piece of unessential gear, boat buck in savings, whatever) stop you from setting off on a “simpler” life voyage.

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Gord May "If you didn't have the time or money to do it right in the first place, when will you get the time/$ to fix it?"

I have an automatic search setup on my phone... As soon as a Pacific Seacraft Flicka 20 is listed in San Diego, It'll let me know. Now that's a small, but amazing boat! Haven't had a chance to look at one in person, but I'm looking forward to it!